In many surgical and medical procedures, an irrigator is employed to deliver pulses of fluid to a particular location on or in the body of a person receiving medical attention. For example, during orthopedic surgery, an irrigator may be employed to deliver pressurized pulses of water or saline solution to an exposed surface of the bone in order to clean the bone. There are also some non-surgical procedures performed which likewise make it desirable to apply pulses of water to a specific site on an individual's skin. Thus, if an individual is suffering from some type of bed sore or some other type of skin wound, it is a common practice to use an irrigator to clean the wound prior to applying a dressing to the wound.
A common type of medical/surgical irrigator includes a handpiece to which a tip assembly is selectively attached. Often, inside the handpiece is a small pump that periodically delivers a quantity of pressurized fluid. Alternatively, the pressurized fluid is delivered to the handpiece from an external pump. The fluid is discharged through a discharge tube integral with the tip assembly to the selected site on or in the patient. These irrigators deliver fluid in pressurized pulses for two reasons. One reason is that fluid pulses quickly strike the site to which they are applied and leave the site; this action serves to foster the desirable removal of debris from the site. Secondly, the discrete fluid pulses do not obstruct the view of the site as much as it can be obstructed when exposed to a continuous flow of pressurized fluid.
Most irrigator handpieces, in addition to having a conduit through which the sterile fluid is discharged, have a conduit through which the discharged fluid is removed from the site to which it is applied. Typically, the fluid is initially withdrawn from the site through a suction tube, also part of the tip assembly. The fluid, as well as any debris in the fluid stream, then flow through a conduit integral with the handpiece. The handpiece suction conduit is connected to a second suction tube that is connected to a suction system separate from the irrigator. Thus, given their ability to essentially simultaneously clean a site on a patient and remove the debris generated by the cleaning process, it should be readily apparent why irrigators have become useful tools for facilitating many medical and surgical procedures.
There are, however, some disadvantages associated with current surgical irrigators. One particular disadvantage associated with some known irrigators is how the tip assembly is connected to the handpiece. When these components are coupled together there should be two leakproof seals: a first seal between the handpiece and the discharge tube through which the irrigating fluid is discharged; and a second seal between the suction tube and the complementary handpiece conduit. Some tip assemblies sometimes do not properly mate with their complementary handpieces; this results in leakage. Leakage around a tip assembly suction tube-handpiece joint is especially prone to occur when the tip assembly is exposed to side loading. This side loading occurs when the tip assembly is pressed against tissue and flexes relative to the handpiece.
Still another problem associated with some irrigators is that the suction conduits integral to the handpieces occasionally clog. This clogging occurs because the material drawn away from the site to which the irrigator is applied is often in solid or semi-sold form. Sometimes, especially if this material is relatively large in size, the material will clog the suction conduit in the handpiece so as to significantly reduce the utility of the irrigator.
Moreover, it is desirable to provide medical personnel with some ability to control the rate at which irrigation fluid is discharged from the handpiece. Some handpieces are provided with stepped switches that are incrementally set in order to establish the voltage of the power signal applied to the motor so as to, in turn, set pump speed. One disadvantage of some known handpieces is that these switches are located in positions wherein, with a single hand, it is difficult, if not impossible, to both direct the handpiece and regulate the discharge of irrigating fluid.
Moreover, it also desirable to provide some means for controlling the pattern of the irrigating fluid discharged from the irrigator. To date, one of the more common practices is to simply provide the personnel using the irrigator with a number of different tip assemblies, each with its own nozzle that causes the irrigating fluid to be discharged in a specific spray pattern. A disadvantage of this practice is that it increases the number of different tips that a medical facility is required to keep in inventory. Still another disadvantage of this practice is that if, during a procedure, a change in fluid flow patterns is desired, the medical personnel must spend time switching tips.
Also, while it is common practice to provide handpieces with use-once, disposable battery packs, there are some circumstances when it may be more economical to provide a rechargeable power pack for repeatedly energizing different handpieces.